Posted December 20. 2009

Staff Report

         Kentucky’s First Bear Season Buried by Snow Storm --Heavy Snows Hit Three Eastern Kentucky Counties Open to Hunting

    Kentucky’s historic bear season, the first in the modern era of wildlife management, was buried by a snow storm.

    The three counties open to hunting December 19-20 -- Harlan, Letcher and Pike --were hit with a snowstorm, which dumped more than a foot of snow at higher elevations.

    The inclement weather impacted hunter access, and success. A total of 372 bear hunting permits were sold, but no bears were taken during the two-day season.

    Hunters will have to wait until next fall to get a crack at Kentucky’s growing population of bruins.

    Steven Dobey, bear program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, said the area open to hunting has an estimated population of 300 bears,

    “The population has shown phenomenal growth from only a decade ago. We’ve been monitoring this population and have been involved in research with the University of Kentucky for almost 10 years. Based on our research efforts, it’s clear that Kentucky’s bear population can support a sustainable harvest.”

    Hunters in the five counties adjoining Kentucky’s bear zone, in West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee, harvested 50 bears this fall, Dobey said.

    Black bears were nearly absent from Kentucky for about 150 years after intensive logging in the 19th century took away much of their habitat. They gradually made their way back to southeastern Kentucky from Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee as oak-hickory forests matured once again.

    Natural reproduction of bears in Kentucky has occurred for at least five years.

    “The other driving force in this first bear season has been public interest and support from sporting organizations in Kentucky,” Dobey said.

     The harvest quota for the entire season is 10 bears total or five female bears, whichever limit hunters reach first.

    Dobey said female bears are already in their dens for the winter, with some denning as early as October, based information from radio-collared bears.

    The bag limit is one bear per hunter. The hunt is open to any Kentucky resident who purchases a $30 bear hunting permit in addition to an annual hunting license.

    Successful hunters must take their bear to one of the check-in stations set up in each of the open counties. Locations are listed at the department’s website: www.fw.ky.gov.

    Kentucky Fish and Wildlife biologists will weigh the bears, take body measurements and biological samples for research, and attach a permanent tag to each harvested animal. Hunters must also Telecheck their bear before leaving the check station.

    Hunters may not take female bears with cubs or bears weighing less than 75 pounds. A 75-pound bear is about the same size as an adult Labrador retriever. Baiting is prohibited, including garbage used as bait. For example, hunters may not shoot a bear feeding at a garbage can or dumpster.

    The Hensley-Pine Mountain Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is closed to bear hunting, and a 12,500-acre area surrounding the WMA is open only to landowners, their spouses and dependent children hunting on their own property. Those boundaries are clearly delineated in the 2009-10 Kentucky Hunting and Trapping Guide, available wherever hunting licenses are sold and online at fw.ky.gov.

    Hunters may also read about all equipment, licensing, hunter education and youth supervision laws in this guide. Hunter orange clothing is required for all bear hunters regardless of what hunting equipment they use, as the season coincides with late muzzleloader deer season.

    Most Kentucky hunters haven’t taken a bear before. However, hunters can use some of the same techniques they use for deer hunting. Hunters should begin by scouting ridgelines for hard mast food sources such as acorns.

    “In the fall and winter months, bears have only one thing on their minds and that’s putting on weight for the winter denning season,” Dobey said. “They’ll concentrate their activity almost exclusively around food sources.”

    In eastern Kentucky, mountain ridgelines hold the highest concentrations of these food sources. Bears are predictable in their daily travel patterns. Hunters should search for trails worn into the ground, paw prints in leaf litter or even claw marks on trees, as bears feed extensively in trees as well as under them. Once hunters find a stand of acorn-producing trees and other signs of bear activity, they can set up tree stands just as they do for deer hunting. Ground blinds can also be used.

    A bear’s sense of smell is even better than a deer’s, so there isn’t much hunters can do to cover up their scent. However, bears are also generally more curious than deer, as odors may indicate a potential food source. Since bears are trying to put on weight for winter denning, scent can actually work to a hunter’s advantage. Hunters should aim for the same vital area on a bear that they look for on a deer.

    Portions of 10 public hunting areas are open for bear hunting, though hunters should consult maps to ensure they hunt only within Harlan, Letcher and Pike counties. Excluding Hensley-Pine Mountain WMA, there are 29,651 acres of public land available to hunters within the three-county bear zone. Hunters must have landowner permission to hunt or retrieve downed bears from private land.